A rare film in that it presumes intelligence and imagination are virtues that one can expect from an audience. A patient, dense, elegant film, it tracks a compelling, odd, coldly romantic (!) character (wonderfully explored by the always-beguiling Martin Donovan) as he circles a curious young actress (the wondrous Irene Jacob in her most mesmerizing performance). It is the manner of the circling that is so peculiar: it is all done through a series of working sessions for a film project that may or may not be real. It is much more than a clever device. It is an oblique and surprising meditation on men and women, in the guise of a spry, stylish 'relationship' film. The interior lives of the characters are beautifully created in a series of tableaux, that seem simple, but are wonderfully imagined and always moving forward.
The touching, smartly playful and clear direction of writer/director Alan Wade give the film a tone that leads inexorably to a truly moving, quiet, uncompromising ending. The last moments of the film are the perfect closure to a film that is quite unusual in it's ambitions and it's subject matter. Martin Donovan, even when completely still, gives the impression of intense, personal thought. So does this film.
The touching, smartly playful and clear direction of writer/director Alan Wade give the film a tone that leads inexorably to a truly moving, quiet, uncompromising ending. The last moments of the film are the perfect closure to a film that is quite unusual in it's ambitions and it's subject matter. Martin Donovan, even when completely still, gives the impression of intense, personal thought. So does this film.